Not sure what is holding your small business back—or which problem to solve first? Business Growth Assessment provides personally reviewed small business assessments that examine how sales, marketing, profitability, delivery and management problems may be connected. Start with a free, eight-question Business Priority Check (about three minutes), or choose a more detailed written assessment.
What you receive: a reasoned explanation of the ONE area that appears to deserve attention first, the evidence in your answers supporting that direction, and an appropriate practical starting point. I’m Gerard Collins, the founder, and I personally review the information you submit. There is no instant AI-generated score and no requirement to book a consulting call. Start the free Business Priority Check →
Which business assessment is right for you?
Choose the assessment that suits your situation. The free check offers an initial direction; if you already have a problem to investigate or need deeper analysis, you can choose a paid assessment directly. You do not need to complete the free check first. Each level is personally reviewed and provides reasoned priorities, with no ongoing consulting commitment. All official prices and payments are in euros (EUR). For international visitors, approximate equivalents at 9 October 2026 exchange rates are: €99 ≈ £84 / US$111; €249 ≈ £211 / US$279; €449 ≈ £380 / US$504. These estimates are not fixed prices. Actual bank or card conversion rates and fees may differ.
Compare the free and paid business assessment options
| Assessment | Best for | What you receive | Price and delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Business Priority Check | Unsure where to begin | Eight questions; short personally reviewed Business Priority Report | Free · Sent after review |
| Business Bottleneck Audit | One specific issue needs investigation | Focused written findings, supporting reasoning and a practical starting action | €99 · 2 days |
| Business Strategy Assessment | Several problems may be connected | Written analysis of the main apparent constraint and priorities | €249 · 3 days |
| Business Growth Blueprint | Deeper investigation and 90-day direction | Comprehensive written findings and a prioritised 90-day blueprint | €449 · 5 days |
All paid delivery times begin after receiving the completed assessment information. No implementation or ongoing consulting is included.
Free Business Priority Check
Want to know what the eight-question check includes before you begin? Explore the free small business assessment and what you can expect from the personally reviewed written response.
Free · Eight questions · About three minutes
Best for: Business owners who are exploring their situation or aren’t sure which area deserves attention. A preliminary, personally reviewed assessment based on eight questions. I email a short, personalised Business Priority Report identifying the area that appears to deserve attention first, with the reasoning behind it. It offers an initial direction, not an instant automated result or a full business diagnosis, and does not investigate the business to the depth of the paid assessments.
Take the free Business Priority Check →
Business Bottleneck Audit — €99
Best for: Business owners who already recognise a particular problem but want help investigating what’s contributing to it. A focused written investigation of one important business issue, with supporting reasoning and a practical starting action. Delivery: 2 days after receiving the completed assessment information. No live consultation is included.
- Best when one situation is already demanding your attention and you want a structured outside perspective.
- Personally reviewed responses and a written summary of the apparent priority and supporting reasoning.
- A focused starting point, rather than a full review of every area of the business.
Business Strategy Assessment — €249
Best for: Business owners facing several connected problems who aren’t sure which underlying issue to address first. A broader assessment examining relationships between business functions, identifying the principal apparent constraint and explaining the priorities. Delivery: 3 days after receiving the completed assessment information. No live consultation is included.
- Examine how issues in sales, marketing, pricing, capacity, operations and owner involvement may connect.
- Identify the main apparent constraint and key priorities, using the information supplied in the assessment.
- Receive a personalised written explanation to support your next business decisions.
Business Growth Blueprint — €449
Best for: Business owners who want a deeper understanding of their business and a prioritised direction for the next 90 days. A comprehensive written assessment with connected findings, the principal apparent constraint, recommended priorities and a 90-day blueprint. Delivery: 5 days after receiving the completed assessment information. No live consultation is included.
- Look across the business as a connected whole, including strengths, gaps, patterns and contradictions.
- Identify the principal apparent constraint, explain the reasoning and distinguish it from secondary issues.
- Receive a written, prioritised 90-day blueprint setting out what to focus on and what can wait.
Experienced questions, connected evidence, personal judgement
The questions across these assessments are shaped by Gerard Collins’s more than 30 years of business experience in management, marketing, sales, SEO, public relations, strategy and operations. Knowing what to ask is part of the value. The questions investigate relationships between customer demand, conversion, pricing, profitability, delivery capacity, processes and owner dependency rather than giving each response a separate score.
Gerard personally reviews the answers as a connected picture before making the final diagnostic judgement. These are not instant AI-generated diagnoses or automated scoring reports. The free check offers a preliminary view, while the paid assessments gather more information and support deeper findings. Read the FAQs about the assessment process and human review.
How the diagnostic approach works
Current Position → Goal → Gap → Constraint → Priority → Action
First we establish where the business is now and where the owner wants it to be. We then examine the gap, test the possible causes and identify the priority supported by the available evidence. The recommended action follows from that diagnosis—not from whichever symptom seems loudest.
When is an independent assessment useful?
- Revenue is growing, but profit is under pressure: the cause may involve pricing, uncharged work, customer mix or the cost of delivery.
- There are enquiries, but insufficient sales: lead generation, conversion, follow-up and customer friction may need to be distinguished.
- The owner is involved in everything: capacity, responsibility, management structure and operating processes may be connected.
- Several investments seem urgent: a clearer priority can help you avoid hiring, advertising or buying systems before understanding the real need.
Want to investigate a specific issue before choosing an assessment? Read our practical guides on what to fix first in a business, finding a business bottleneck, whether you need more leads or better conversion, and whether hiring or fixing processes should come first. Each demonstrates why investigating the cause matters before committing resources.
Inside an Assessment: An Illustrative Diagnostic Extract
Illustrative example only — not a real client result. Imagine a service business where enquiries have increased but profit has not. The owner suspects that more marketing is needed. A review of recent jobs instead reveals repeated additional work and delivery time exceeding original quotations. That evidence would suggest investigating scope control and job profitability before buying more leads. A different pattern could lead to a different conclusion.
Here is an example of how a finding could appear in a written assessment. All details below are fictional. They illustrate the diagnostic method, not a real customer, a verified finding, a predicted financial improvement or a guaranteed output for every package.
1. Current position
An established 12-person service business reports increasing enquiries and revenue, but disappointing profit. Staff are busy and the owner is working longer hours to keep jobs moving.
2. Goal
Increase profitable work without making the business more dependent on the owner for routine decisions and delivery problems.
3. Gap and evidence
More work is coming in, but it is not producing the expected return. In this fictional example, a comparison of quotations against completed work suggests several jobs absorbed uncharged customer changes, extra staff time and repeated owner intervention. The evidence points to possible margin leakage after the sale, rather than a shortage of leads.
4. Possible underlying constraint
Weak control of job scope and delivery handovers may be allowing profitable-looking projects to consume more time than planned. This is a working diagnosis to verify against actual job records, not a conclusion we could responsibly reach from revenue figures alone.
5. ONE priority to address first
Establish better control of what is agreed, delivered and charged for on each job before increasing marketing spend. If the evidence supports this, more leads could otherwise add work without solving the loss of margin.
6. Practical first actions
- First two weeks: Review ten recently completed jobs. Compare quoted scope and hours with actual work, costs, variations, rework and owner involvement.
- Following month: Where justified, test clearer quotation boundaries, change approvals and delivery handovers on new work.
- By day 90: Review job-level contribution, uncharged extra hours, rework and owner escalations to decide whether the changes are helping or whether the initial diagnosis needs revisiting.
Not now: Committing to a larger advertising budget, hiring additional staff or installing new software solely because the business feels busy. Reconsider those options when the evidence points to them.
What still needs confirming: Actual profitability by job, labour and delivery records, variation handling and whether similar issues appear consistently. A real BGA report would distinguish evidence from assumptions and reflect the depth of the chosen assessment.
A useful assessment should explain why a particular priority has been chosen, what evidence supports it and what remains uncertain. An assessment based on questionnaire responses is not a substitute for financial assurance, onsite operational observation or specialist professional advice where these are required.
What happens next?
- Choose the assessment depth that suits the decision you’re facing.
- For the free check, complete the online questionnaire. For a paid assessment, click the PayPal purchase button for your chosen package. After successful payment, PayPal is configured to redirect you to the appropriate online questionnaire. Complete and submit it to begin your assessment. If the redirect does not appear, please email me with the assessment name and payment reference to request the questionnaire link. If you want to use a different email address, please contact gerard@businessgrowthassessment.com and include the assessment name and payment reference, but no card details. Delivery times begin once the completed assessment information has been received.
- I review the information provided and send your personalised written assessment by email.
Payments are securely processed by PayPal. Your PayPal receipt or card statement may display You Can Series, the existing merchant account used for Business Growth Assessment purchases.
You can use the findings to decide what to address yourself or whether to obtain more specialised assistance. BGA is a diagnostic and prioritisation service, not a requirement to enter an ongoing consulting arrangement.
About the person behind the assessment
Gerard Collins is the Founder of Business Growth Assessment. His professional background includes management, marketing, SEO, public relations, business development and business strategy. Read more about Gerard Collins, or connect with him on LinkedIn.
For examples of Gerard’s published thinking on business priorities and management, read his Business & Finance article on revenue growth and hidden weakness and his contribution to Young Upstarts on activity versus progress. These are independently published articles, not endorsements of BGA’s assessments. See more on the media page.
Questions small-business owners often ask
What is a small business assessment?
A small business assessment reviews information about how the business operates so the owner can identify constraints and decide where to focus. BGA asks questions across areas such as sales, profitability, processes and owner involvement, then personally reviews the answers to identify the ONE apparent priority supported by the information provided.
Do I have to complete the free check before buying a paid assessment?
No. The free Business Priority Check offers an initial indication from eight questions. If you already want a more focused or comprehensive written investigation, you can select a paid assessment directly. There is no requirement to book a call or commit to ongoing consulting.
Is this an automated business health score?
No. BGA does not assign an instant automated score and call it a diagnosis. Gerard personally reviews the questionnaire responses, looks for possible relationships and contradictions, and provides written reasoning appropriate to the selected assessment. Conclusions depend on the information supplied and should be checked against business records where necessary. See the full assessment FAQs.
Ready to establish your next priority?
Start with the free Business Priority Check, or choose one of the secure PayPal purchase buttons above for a paid assessment. Questions before purchasing? Email gerard@businessgrowthassessment.com.